Like the Geto Boys, Slum Village has had a revolving door of personnel, label drama, and a sound that wouldn’t budge in spite of it. Now down the original leader T3 and the refined lyrical entry, Elzhi, the group maintains its premium blend of soulful Hip-Hop going into their recently released self-titled album. Now fully independent, the Villa could be perceived to be on the downward slide. Instead, they’re doing work for Chevy, getting dap from Kweli and Craig G, and have an album nobody expected to win – like the Bengals.

Elzhi and T3 chatted up with AllHipHop.com on the new chapter of the group, the response to the record, and some of the other miscommunications of the group to the fans. Fresh off of securing beats for the new Dogg Pound project, Young RJ checks in too, to touch on his role in the new production behind Detroit’s veteran rap click.

AllHipHop.com: How’s the reaction been to the self-titled album after two months on shelves?

T3: It’s good. Its a slow grind ’cause we’re independent now. It takes a minute. But the good thing about being independent is, there’s no deadline. It doesn’t have to get done within a certain amount of time. We gettin’ there.

Elzhi: We just came off a promo tour. We just did a few shows with Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharaohe Monch, and Jean Grae. Actually, we wasn’t doin’ a full set. We were just doing “1,2” during Talib’s set. Man, everytime we performed it – people went nuts. After we was done, cats at B.B. Kings tried to get us booked [for an upcoming show]. Craig G told me it’s a banger of an album. The streets got us on this one. In Connecticut, they made a homemade clean version of it for the radios. It’s great.

AllHipHop.com: In one capacity or another, Slum Village has put out a slew of projects in the last three years. This year, you had Fantastic Volume One made available, the Prequel to a Classic, and now this project. Do you ever feel that you’re hurting yourself when you do some commendable work like this self-titled album?

Elzhi: I think that Prequel really confused people. It’s a mixtape – not a record. Yeah, to a certain extent, that mixtape kinda clouded peoples’ vision. It was supposed to be a hold-me-over, but it wasn’t done in a strategic way.

T3: I guess it can, but I think it’s a good thing. With this Hip-Hop situation, we gotta do major strategies sometimes. It used to take us two years to come out with an album. We try to flood the market [now]. Most of that stuff is old. Slum Village is the only new album.

AllHipHop.com: But many critics would say, why dwell on the past? You’re constantly being labeled as the ‘group without Jay Dee anymore.’ That said, I can’t really understand why the old days matter when it’s just you two now?

T3: As far as Slum Village, it’s in the past. It’s cool. This is the last time that we’re gonna open that chapter. This whole album is the beginning of the new Slum Village and the end of the old Slum Village. So, that’s why we self-titled it Slum Village. We gotta re-establish ourselves. Me and [Elzhi] finally gelled together as a group, and got our chemistry together – and it took four years to do it. Everything’s good. This is also why, on this album, we talk about our situation so much. It’s so we won’t have to speak on it no more. So get your questions in – after this, it don’t exist no more. [laughs]

Elzhi: At first, I was gettin’ upset. If it was up to me, we would all come together and do an album. Dilla left ’cause Dilla wanted to do a solo thing. Baatin left ’cause he was sick, and he felt like we was playin’ against him – so he left. People need to look at the music. This is our chance to reconnect with the fans with the done lost along the way.

AllHipHop.com: Well, I do have a few questions on those things. Have the absences haunted you in reviews and in interviews? I mean, this album is really, really strong and critics can’t let go of the old days?

T3: More-so three years ago than the last year. It took a lot to establish ourselves. I didn’t kick anyone out. I didn’t tell anyone to leave. These guys, they wanna do they own thing!

AllHipHop.com: Dilla came back on Detroit Deli to a limited role. After it’s said and done, was that a mistake?

T3: I think it’s a good thing. I didn’t do that for me, I did it for the fans. It was on some love stuff, man. I’m not beefin’ with Dilla. I’m hoping that one day, we will get together and do another album. We will – with Baatin. I won’t take one without the other. It has to be both of them. Till then, it’s me and Elzhi. At the same, I’m not gonna let this group perish. I’ve watched it happen to A Tribe Called Quest and Pharcyde.

AllHipHop.com: On this album, you address label problems a lot. When was it clear that you were leaving Capitol?

T3: Our contract was up. We only had a two album deal with Capitol. We didn’t wanna renew it because we felt that the last album could’ve done a lot more. The reason why it didn’t is we didn’t get a chance to do a second single to really punch it open. They had a cap they wanted to spend on us, anyway. They didn’t want to go the extra mile.

AllHipHop.com: Ironically, from the independent – Barak, you’re doing Chevy commercials – a huge look.

T3: Exactly! People from Detroit helped put that situation together as a Motor City kinda thing. It was an easy situation. We just got some cars they givin’ us and money. It’s a great situation. We’ve been with Barak our whole career, they signed us young. Whether it was Capitol, A&M, or Interscope, it was always Barak. We got two more albums with Barak, then who knows what happens after that.

AllHipHop.com: Was your family affiliated much with the car industry?

T3: Oh yeah. My Granddad, I live with my grandparents, and he retired with a gold watch. That’s all we do – it’s the Motor City.

AllHipHop.com: Young RJ, your father runs Barak. What do you feel when you think about that contract’s end coming up?

Young RJ: The skies is the limit as far as what’s to come. Slum, that’s family. Whether it be after the two albums is up, and they decide to go somewhere else, that’s what it’ll be – it’s not personal. I would be able to go in and still make good music.

AllHipHop.com: You took in B.R. Gunna as the sort of in-house producers. Young RJ is just that, 22 years old. How tough was it to take them in?

T3: Well, I’m a producer too. I already had the history of what the Slum Village sound was. I worked with Dilla. It’s not hard to create the sound. That’s the easy part. Young RJ did help a lot on this record. We worked it out.

AllHipHop.com: RJ, you had some large shoes to fill the last few years. How’d you deal with it?

Young RJ: It’s not really pressuring me. It’d be different if it was a sour relationship between me and Jay Dee. But me and Jay Dee kinda close. If I ever need him for advice and opinion, he’ll tell me what he thinks. It’s just making good music.

AllHipHop.com: How do you treat the negative reviews some folks have laid on – A lot of people say y’all dwell on the same subjects – the group and women.

T3: It is a criticism. On this album, the criticism we got was, “Oh yeah, this is a good album. But I’mma rate it like it’s okay.” I read a review in Vibe the other day – they ain’t have nothin’ bad to say about the album, but they still gave us three [out of five] records. When they was not liking the record, it was so-so, we got a three and a half. I don’t know what reviews are today. I don’t really trust ’em.

Elzhi: One critic said talkin’ ’bout the past is one of our downfalls. But when reviewing the Lil’ Kim album, it got five mics, the majority of that joint was about her goin’ to jail and dealin’ with snitches and 50. She called 50 a snitch on three cuts! But she got five mics. We do it, now we talkin’ ’bout our situation too much.

T3: I do know I think this is the second best Slum album after Fantastic Volume Two. I think people wanna be mad at us because when Dilla left, we were more popular. That gave Dilla fans hatred. We just brush it off.

Elzhi: I’m not mad at it. The cats in the streets got us. When I think about critics, I think of somebody just poppin’ the CD in, skippin’ through songs, and just makin’ comments. The comments on this album aren’t really scratching the surface. That leads me to believe that they ain’t really listen to the album.

AllHipHop.com: Well I’m not gonna chump on you like that. We spoke on, “1,2”, so let me ask you what prompted “Call Me”?

Elzhi: [laughs] Life. Reality. That was a verse written out of frustration by something I was goin’ through at the time with a significant other. Actually, it wasn’t even wrote for that cut. That was gonna be a solo cut. But, the vibe was right in the studio and I threw the verse to it. You mentioned the fact that we’re criticized for so many love cuts – Slum doin’ whatever the tracks tell us to do. Artists translate music for the people. That’s what Slum Village is best at.

Never a stranger to it in his brilliantly short career, the intro to Notorious B.I.G’s “What?s Beef” asks listeners a very simple question: “Do you know what beef is?” For Biggie, it was being on the frontline of one of the greatest feuds in rap history with Tupac Shakur. For Philly’s award-winning, Number One mixtape DJ, Wreck, beef is what makes for a hot CD on the streets.

Wreck has been nominated at Justo’s MixTape Awards three years in a row for being “Hip-Hop MixTape DJ of the Year”. His CD’s combine the hottest exclusives from rap’s elite, along with a heavy serving of beef tracks for listeners who just can’t get enough drama from The Wire. A veteran of the game since 1995, Wreck churns out mixtapes at breakneck speed, creating new CD’s every two weeks. AllHipHop.com spent some time with DJ Wreck, and learned that he pulls no punches, especially towards Nas and 50 Cent. Whether you agree with him or not, he clearly lives up to his self-proclaimed title by being “The World?s Most Hated DJ.”

AllHipHop.com: Now that we’re on the eve of 2006, how does one stay competitive in what some people call an oversaturated mixtape market?

DJ Wreck: I basically stay on my grind and I never slack when it comes to getting hot music. I stay consistent. People know me and count on me, as far as my clientele goes, Philly shows me the most love. They’re the ones that buy my CD’s and basically make me number one as a mixtape DJ. Other than that, New York shows me a lot of good love, even though that’s a hard market to get into.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of New York, how does a Philly cat like you feel about the competitive nature of a lot of New York DJ’s?

DJ Wreck: Man, unfortunately, a lot of New York cats tend to play the same songs [on their CD?s]. One thing that I do when I put my CD’s out, I try to avoid putting out the same exact CD [as the New York DJ’s]. The problem with New York is that, because it’s an oversaturated market, there’s a problem making money there. If I only sold my CD’s in New York I’d go broke. Man, in New York you’re only making cents per CD. In Philly, because I’m well known, I get to make the most money and my profit margin is higher there. I guess [I’m] like how Clue and Kay Slay are in New York. [Because of name recognition], you can make more money.

AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about the cats that bootleg your CD’s and then sell them like it’s an original?

DJ Wreck: The only time I have a problem with bootleggers is when you sell cats five [CD’s], then you come back to the spot and see like, 30 of them. [But] I have no real problem with bootlegging because they hit spots or people that I can’t reach. I heard my stuff goes international because bootleggers are able to get it to them. Bootleggers help my career as a mixtape DJ.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of international, I have to confess that I burned one of your CD’s and gave it to my man in London.

DJ Wreck: [Laughs]. But that’s my point! Something just like that doesn’t bother me. I don’t reach people like that [myself]. I mean, I can’t even tell you the places where I’ve gotten love from people telling me that they like my CD’s. I definitely have no problem with that.

AllHipHop.com: You ever get into any problems with angry record label execs from leaking a hot song?

DJ Wreck: I have, but a lot of times, I get my music directly from the execs at the label. I know a lot of people [at any given] label. Sometimes, one person may not know that I got a record from another person at the same label. I get into a few problems because of that with execs. But I can’t even understand how you can get a song from a non-artist or a non-executive – it [always] has to come from somewhere in the label [itself].

AllHipHop.com: What’s the worst thing that can happen from an angry exec?

DJ Wreck: Nothing. They’re not gonna do anything [violent]. I mean, the worst that can possibly happen is that they can cut you off and sabotage your career in the long run by getting people to no longer deal with you. The label cats, the managers – they’re the ones that can get me the music.

AllHipHop.com: One of your most well known CD?s, [“We Don?t F**k With 2Pac”], features anti-2Pac songs by Jay-Z, Lil’ Kim and even LL Cool J. Some people would say that caused more trouble than was necessary, because once 2Pac died, all of those beefs ended. How would you respond to that?

DJ Wreck: Well, a lot of people did hit me up on that one when it came out and it did cause a lot of controversy. I’m just trying to let people know how history was at that time. You got all these cats shouting ‘Pac’s name out, and I personally feel that they’re exploiting him. Come on, it’s like they shouting his name out ’cause ‘Pac got fame. I was just trying to let people know that these cats is phony. I hate to say this but Nas – I hear Nas shouting out ‘Pac every five seconds – how you gonna shout him out when he was dissin’ you? You look at people who really did songs with ‘Pac, and they don’t even do [songs like “Thugz’ Mansion”]. I haven’t heard one Snoop record where he took a ‘Pac acapella and made a new record. It’s all these new people exploiting him, trying to find a ‘Pac acapella so they can put it on their song. People don’t know how major the East Coast-West Coast beef was at that time. People don’t even know that DMX dissed ‘Pac. He did it in a freestyle, and then he changed the lyrics when he put out “Get At Me Dog.” Lil’ Kim too – she changed her lyrics to “Big Mama Thing” – she dissed ‘Pac also. It’s on the mixtape.

AllHipHop.com: You play up beef a lot in your CD’s. Some people think that you?re airing out people’s dirty laundry, thus making the beef worse?

DJ Wreck: That’s BS. If that’s the case, then artists wouldn’t make a song about it. If you didn’t want it to be out, why did you make a song about it? How do you think we get it? It’s not like we rob it and steal it from a n***as’ cribs to put it out. If artists didn’t want their laundry out, they wouldn’t make the song.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about some beefs. Who do you think won between Jada and 50?

DJ Wreck: Oh s**t. No question. Jada won. That wasn’t even close. Selling records doesn’t mean anything. There’s no question that 50 has more money than Jada, but in street credibility, Jada [is the real winner]. The whole D-Block won. I mean, even Sheek was killin’ him with the lyrics! I even think Joe came out with a better diss [“My 4-4”] than anything 50 ever did!

AllHipHop.com: Do you think 50 Cent’s impact on the mixtape market helped the mixtape DJ?

DJ Wreck: No. He didn’t do anything. Actually, he helped saturate the market. Now, instead of mixtape DJ’s putting CD’s out, we got mixtapes being put out by a whole bunch of artists. 50 didn’t do anything. He’s not going around telling [the RIAA] to leave the mixtape DJ’s alone.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s switch gears a little bit. Your new CD, “The Best of Jay-Z, Vol. 3” is out now. What makes it hot?

DJ Wreck: Well, it’s one of three [volumes]. What makes it hot is the way I put it together. It’s not just the songs. I think it’s cheating the artist if you just put the songs on at random. I’m one of the only DJ’s that arrange the songs nonstop, I mix it like that, feel me? This CD is made for the Jay-Z fan. This particular CD is filled with his street cuts. You can pop it in the car and let it ride.

AllHipHop.com: Got any last words for your fans?

DJ Wreck: Go to my website: www.therealdjwreck.com

AllHipHop.com: You know, there’s a couple DJ Wreck’s out there?

DJ Wreck: Yeah, tell me about it – I have no problems with other DJ Wrecks but nobody should be putting out DJ Wreck mixtapes [but me]. I’m being real. What kills me is that I seen one DJ Wreck–and I’m not gonna mention where he from – and he puts out a CD with the same title as me! Come on man?

AllHipHop.com: It sounds like you got into some beef yourself now!

DJ Wreck: I know. But it’s all good – it’s all good.

Richard Pryor was America?s most provocative comedian of the twentieth century. He incorporated a totally different technique to his stand up performance, setting new standards from the minute he stepped out under the spot light. Not only was Richard Pryor infamous for his cutting-edge humor but because he overstepped boundaries with his ability to humorize racial stereotypes. And yet he accomplished this all without actually telling jokes. His shows personified nothing more than real life and actual experiences. Even though he may not be with us in body his memory will never fade as his spirit still lives on in many other performers.

Houston?s Devin the Dude has Richard Pryor as one of his main influences and just as he was considered, “Your favorite comics, favorite comic.” The Odd Squad front-man has been classified on more than one occasion as, “Your favorite rappers? rapper.” His tongue in cheek lines may not be what you expect from your average Houston rapper, but Devon keeps to his plan by keeping his style as authentic his inspiration did. Those who just bought or received Chappelle Show DVD box sets of the holiday ought to look at Devin’s reflection with AllHipHop.com on the originator.

AllHipHop.com: You put Richard Pryor down as one of your main inspirations, if not the main one. I was just curious to know how you reacted when he died?

Devin the Dude: My immediate reaction was, “Richard Pryor is dead,” it wasn?t even a fact. To me, to die is not to be heard of anymore. I knew he was going through some physical problems, and I eventually knew he would pass on, but it did shock me. When they say he is dead, he isn?t really dead to me. It hurt me a little bit, but I felt good at the same time.

AllHipHop.Com: Why did you feel good?

Devin the Dude: A lot of artists have a lot of success, make their fortune, and get the attention of the media only to be let down towards the end of their career – there was nothing like that with him. That couldn?t happen to him as he set his own standards and he was so real, so blunt and straight to the point, that everything he said he meant and everything he did he turned into comedy. Even when he was serious, he was funny.

AllHipHop.Com: What is your earliest memory of him?

Devin the Dude: My earliest memory of him, that?s kind of hard. I was back in the fourth grade or so and I was listening to one of his records and that would be one of the records I would get in trouble listening to. There would be times when I had another album right on top of that one, so I could slide that right down. You know, I had a stash and I would have three or four of them in a stash and that one would be in there. [laughing]

AllHipHop.com: Is there one point in his career that you remember the most?

Devin the Dude: I mean, there is one time of his career which I remember really well but it was not necessarily the Richard Pryor I know: It was when I snuck in the movie to see The Toy. The dialogue wasn?t really him, but it made me feel good to see that he could bring that off. I was sitting there thinking, “Did Richard Pryor do that?” You know a lot of people change during their careers, but it isn?t really them. He could change and yet still stay the same.

AllHipHop.com: Talking of movies do you have a personal favorite?

Devin the Dude: No, not really. It was his stand up that was the killer stuff for me and his old albums. A lot of times, he had like a collage of stuff that he had been getting real big on coming up and then he would put it into a show and it could be from two or three different albums from way back. I guess I would say Live on Sunset Strip. He has so much material, man.

AllHipHop.com: There appear to be parallels between you and Richard Pryor, you know he was considered, “Your favorite comic?s fave comic” and you have been perceived as “our favorite rappers rapper,” do you see the parallels yourself?

Devin the Dude: Well, I appreciate that. I guess we both just like to laugh. We see the funny side of things and have something to laugh about. He helped me grow…he was like an Uncle to me almost. He was one of the people I listened to growing up, so that comes through in my music. He was like mentor to me.

AllHipHop.com: Did you ever get to meet him?

Devin the Dude: No, I never got a chance to meet him and I always wanted to. I know he had a comedy club on the Sunset Strip out in Los Angeles, and one of the fellas tried to get me out there to do stand-up. But one of my friends said you might want to stay doing your own thing, as that could hurt you. I was like, if I could just get to see him, it wouldn?t really matter.

AllHipHop.com: Everyone knows you as a somewhat comedic rapper, what was the premise behind that, is it just your personality?

Devin the Dude: I listened to Richard Pryor, Slow Fly, Red Foxx, you know I liked the old school comedy. It was the stuff I grew up on, the records I liked to hear; so when I got a record deal and had the chance to actually record all that stuff kind of came through. Hip-hop is so genuine like that, there are no boundaries, sampling and all that you take a bit of this and a bit of that; you know hip-hop is a collage of everything. That was a big thing about it too; know being a rapper you are able to voice your opinion on record. I was excited about that.

AllHipHop.com: Being that Houston is pretty much dominating the mainstream right now, has that been a help to your career?

Devin the Dude: Well, of course it will benefit anyone in Houston right now, just to be looked at. A lot of people have been waiting for a chance to be heard and seen, and everyone is having a chance to be seen now.

It?s a few days before the scheduled execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Snoop, Daz and Kurupt are in the middle of doing all they can to save a man many believe is innocent. An effort we now know wasn’t matched by those in power.

Since his Pharrell single two years ago, Snoop Dogg has tried to make the mic a pulpit and the LBC a “chuuch.” Having reunited his initial sidekicks turned stars: Daz and Kurupt [as Tha Dogg Pound], all seems well in Doggyland. In support of Snoop’s recent Chuuch compilation, DPG’s and AllHipHop.com spoke on Stanley Williams, retaliation, and the Big Apple. Preach!

AllHipHop.com: Right about now everybody is talking about Tookie and his pending exectution. When did you first get into being affiliated with the Crips and how did you come to find out about Tookie?

Daz: I learned about Tookie when the movie Redemption [starring Jamie Foxx] came out. But I been Crippin? all my life. I was born into this. But just bein? from the streets we knew they was tryin? to execute the homey.

AllHipHop.com: Kurupt, do you remember when Snoop brought the Tookie situation to y?all?

Kurupt: Yeah we made a record, and Snoop was like, “We need to dedicate this to the big homey. He?s having a lot of good impact.”

AllHipHop.com: How young were you?

Daz: All my cousins were into it. They put that rag on me. So I?m already Crippin? [before I was actually aware of it].

AllHipHop.com: A lot of your raps are real aggressive, and real cutting edge. You are doing a lot to make people aware of Tookie’s redemption. But if Tookie was a Blood would you still be trying to help him get free?

Kurupt: It has nothing to do with him Crippin?. This is about what he?s doing with his time now and his impact on the younger generation. He?s trying to help out. He?s trying to stop people from living the same life. That?s what it?s about. It?s not about whether he?s a Crip or a Blood.

AllHipHop.com: You’re the guy opening with Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back. You are not known for having lots of compassion and forgiveness. So, what made you step up and reach out for Tookie?

Daz: Well, if you don?t stand up for something, you?ll fall for anything.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of people are speculating on the effect Tookie’s execution could have on the streets. People are suggesting that prison guards might die, that cats might riot- what are your thoughts?

Daz: The police is real ready for this s**t. But there won?t be no riots. After 9/11, they not goin? for that s**t. They?re killin’ muthaf**kas in the airports. No warning shots, nothin?.

AllHipHop.com: Talk to me about the creation of the new Snoop Chuuch project.

Daz: Snoop put it together. We was smokin? big, feelin? big… chiilin?. It was a beautiful thing.

AllHipHop.com: I love the way you attack the mic on “Real Soon” on the Chuuch compilation. After some critics have said you’ve lost that moxy on the mic, where are you finding it now?

Kurupt: The inspiration to do that comes from my homeboy. When we?re together, we’re the greatest. We bring the best out of one another. I?m tryin? to put it down good.

AllHipHop.com: I heard y?all ripped The Apollo…

Kurupt: Yes sir. It was Snoop’s show. But me, Daz and Soopafly was on there too. Bein? in New York, you can?t help but be on fire. New York either brings the best out ya, or it takes the best outta ya. [chuckles]

AllHipHop.com: How are you received in New York after all the years of drama?

Kurupt: Everyboy’s cool with Kurrupt in New York. We was all young back then. We all grew up. Even when “New York, New York” was out, people was showing me love. I never had a problem with New York, just a few individuals. But I get love out here all the time.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of people have been talking about Foxy Brown. Have you spoken to her or seen her lately?

Kurupt: No. But I?ve heard everybody is doing their best to help her get back where she needs to be. I send her my best. I would not wish that on anybody.

Adisa Banjoko is author of the upcoming book Lyrical Swords Vol. 2: Westside Rebellion. For more info visit www.lyricalswords.com!